Cork's legendary O'Flynn's butchers is cutting ties as brothers aged 77 and 82 hang up their aprons

This very morning, says Patrick, the first customer into the shop on Marlboro Street, under the sign of the bull,

was a woman with her daughter and her grand-daughter, the trio representing also a grandmother and a great-grandmother and thus the fifth generation of a single family of patrons.

Continuation is the theme of individual success in Cork.

John O’Flynn and Sons began in the English Market, where Michael Bresnan, rearing his own cattle on his farm in Ballinlough, opened his stall in 1898.

O’Flynn married Michael’s daughter Sheila and having begun their business in the English Market they moved after the fire  of 1980 there to settle at 36 Marlboro Street where a suspension bolt high on the wall shows that the trams ran through. 

Inside those tall curved windows and bright paintwork, and guided by Eddie Ring, both Simon and then Patrick completed their seven-year apprenticeship. The O’Flynns have been lucky in their staff: today the 40 years of Tom Collins and the 20 years of Jackie Falvey are mentioned by brothers and customers alike with warm appreciation.

In Cork city there are retailers who can claim this generational imprint. People like John O’Connell, of T.W. Murray at 87 Patrick Street, now retired and commenting through his son George to say that the customers of what used to be called ‘the gun shop’ are often multiple generations of the same families.

"‘We would attribute the longevity of our business to diversification, to listening to our customers and attempting to give them what they want,’ he says.

As far back as 1828 this business specialised in firearms and explosives; today the big window advertises sea hooks and tide tables and, on special offer. a Recurve Bow, two arrows and bow stringer plus carry-bag.

Archery on Patrick Street – who would have thought it?

"We see entire family histories following on here, it still amazes me." Patrick O’Flynn describes himself as an emotional fish, but this is the way it is. "I’m nearly 78 and Simon is 82. We had it mighty easily, dealing with very nice people all our lives. 

"Dad and Sheila built up a fine business and he gave it to the two of us and it worked very well. Now the time has come." 

It’s not only that there’s no family successor to take over in Marlboro Street. "I’m not sure," says Simon, "that I’d advise anyone to take it on now because the business has changed, retail circumstances have altered considerably. We kept pace with the changes; even in the market we found ways to entice people in by offering special products."

One result of the O’Flynn search for something unique to them was their famous Kassler smoked pork , created at the instigation of Declan Ryan of Arbutus Lodge.

In listing only a few of the legendary dining rooms among O’Flynn’s clientele there’s an irony we can’t escape: this retirement comes at a time when restaurants demand provenance.

"We have been providing provenance all our lives," Patrick says. "More than 90% of our meats are produced locally, and from start to finish we can say we are in charge of what we are selling."

There has always been a value-added element to shopping with O’Flynns. 

Purchases came with advice and philosophy, with art critiques and recipes, with family updates and Simon’s half-rueful admission that anything happening to John Cleese in Fawlty Towers had happened also at 36 Marlboro Street. 

And music, like trade, seems to have run in the O’Flynn family: Simon still plays his viola every day and remembers a concert by the Cork Symphony Orchestra when nine of the players were himself, his mother, aunts and cousins..

Four generations of the Bresnan stall in the market since 1898 ended with the death last November of Michael Bresnan, but his sister Katherine O’Mahony kept her site at the market's gate by the Grand Parade which is now run by her son Eoin O’Mahony and her daughter Eimear.

Meanwhile in Douglas the Bresnan name and local farm reputation still distinguish the shop managed by Liam and Patrick Bresnan. It all links up, tying us, as Patrick O’Flynn believes, to a sense of shared social engagement.

The Bresnan family continuance mirrors the territorial trading priorities exemplified by the O’Flynns.

Such independent retailers offer the public a tradition of service which in many countries is honoured and protected. 

Challenging the uniformity of international blazons and the affliction of unwanted sites on this splendid street is, for example, the façade of columns, pediment, balconies and canted bow window of FitzGerald’s Menswear at No. 24 since 1860. 

Gentlemen’s Outfitters Tom Murphy at 58 Patrick Street was established in 1938, its façade under Georgian sash windows a mere hint of its online accessibility and its stock from kilts to cravats.

At No. 60 since 1932 Con Murphy Menswear’s proprietor Neil Murphy promises dedication to the art of personal elegance. "You come here to be served, and that’s what we do, we serve and we survive."

While their farewell must have seemed inevitable for some time, Simon and Patrick O’Flynn believe that there will always be room for specialised service, although Patrick wonders if the next generation will want it:  "will they know what they’ll be missing?"

Pull-quote

""Purchases came with advice and philosophy, with art critiques and recipes, with family updates and Simon’s half-rueful admission that anything happening to John Cleese in Fawlty Towers had happened also at 36 Marlboro Street."